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Publications

UNIDO has prepared and published over one hundred publications, papers, manuals and guidelines, primarily aimed at technical experts and policy makers in developing countries, though many are used by sector-related institutions and development organizations elsewhere.

The website www.leatherpanel.org is intended to provide an easy access to information sources on the leather, footwear and leather products industry, as well as to UNIDO publications related to the leather sector in one place, including earlier publications that were previously only available in hard copy.

The survey is intended to cover the environmental impacts and health issues of the footwear and leather goods industries with particular reference to solid waste, air pollution and chemicals. The review covers quantification of solid wastes, technology available for reducing environmental impact and health risks and legislation. It was presented during th 13th UNIDO Leather Panel, Bologna November 1997.

The Regulation of the European Union (EU) on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals, REACH entered into force on 1st June 2007. Its proclaimed aims were to ensure a higher level of protection of human health and the environment as well as free movement of substances, on their own, in preparations and in articles, while enhancing competitiveness and innovation.

This Regulation should also promote the development of alternative methods for the assessment of hazards of substances. REACH was also expected to streamline and improve the former legislative framework on chemicals in order to improve the protection of human health and the environment from the risks that can be posed by chemicals, especially by those listed as Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) The purpose of this desk study was to give some background information and practical advice to the leather industry so as to maintain or establish business in the EU market.

The present report provides production ratios of solid wastes in leather, footwear and other leather products manufacture and analyse why such wastes are produced and analyses possible solutions in order to reduce the quantity of waste, or to recycle them.

The report was prepared by C.T.C. for the 14th UNIDO Leather Panel session.

The objective of the study is to analyze the actual, fairly contradiction situation caused by economic changes in the past 3-5 decades, to review the most pressing problems – especially from developing countries point of view (where the bulk of leather processing and leather products manufacturing takes place presently) and to recommend principles and directions for [internationally] coordinated development in this field. Paper prepared and presented by Mr. F. Schmel during the 17th UNIDO Leather Panel Meeting in Addis Ababa/Ethiopia (January 2010)

This manual has been primarily prepared for use by tanners and tannery supervisors. It has been designed to provide guidance and ideas on how to improve the occupational safety and health standards at work in tanneries and effluent treatment plants by presenting the sources of hazards in a tannery and pointing out simple measures, in a practical and easily understandable manner, for ready implementation on-site. A special attention is given to risks associated with hydrogen sulphide gas, H2S. The manual was prepared under UNIDO Regional Programme for tannery pollution control in South-East Asia.

This paper attempts to discuss the main, predominantly technical, issues with regard to benchmarking; it is intended to assist those who are willing to admit to the fact that despite all explanations and definitions available, they are not quite sure what it is all about and whether and how it could be applied in the tanning industry. The paper outlines "cock-pit" check lists for ten areas - components: 1. Tannery location, infrastructure 2. Production parameters 3. Cleaner technologies 4. Energy management and consumption 5. Quality assurance, reprocessing, delivery time, failures 6. Product development, strategies 7. Occupational safety and health at work, maintenance 8. Effluent treatment, solid waste, air emissions 9. Financial indicators 10. Human resources and staff welfare, CSR. Some typical production parameters are also provided.

The essential part of any tannery waste audit is assessing the efficiency of existing operations carried out during the leather manufacturing process. Typically, tannery staff have a good idea of, and comparatively accurate figures on the waste resulting from specific operations such as fleshing, splitting, trimming or chrome tanning. Only rarely, however, they have a proper overview of the entire range of waste generated. Thus, when considering various cleaner technologies or waste treatment systems, having access to a complete computation of the overall mass balance certainly makes it easier for a tanner facing arduous choices. Dialogue with environmental authorities is also simpler if such figures are readily available. This paper attempts to provide a comprehensive computation of a mass balance and the efficiency of the leather manufacturing process for a tannery, seen as a closed entity. The calculations are deliberately based on operations in a hypothetical tannery processing bovine hides and producing upper leather for shoes. With minor exceptions (batch washing instead of continuous rinsing, splitting in lime, roller coating), it follows the conventional process.

Presented publications documents UNIDO's involvement in promoting Eco-Labelling in the leather industry. Life-cycle assessments or the evaluation of the potential environmental impact of a product system from cradle to grave are fundamental features of some ecolabelling schemes and environmental management systems. Nowadays rhe environmental auditing protocol and reporting mechanism developed and maintained by the Leather Working Group aims to tackle important topical issues, and reflect improvements or changes of technology within the sector.

The Technology package "A System for Recovery and Reuse of Chromium From Spent Tanning Liquor Using Magnesium Oxide and Sulphuric Acid" provides practical overview of the chrome recovery process including equipment specification.